Birds of a Feather
by volian
Summary: ...will fall together. A few short stories of two SOLDIERs who are, contrary to popular opinion, alike in more than their love for spiky hair. Multichaptered, ZackCloud. [temporarily dead]
1. reverse psychology

Birds of a Feather  
_fanfic by volly  
final fantasy vii (c) square enix_

...  
**Title**: reverse psychology  
**Theme(s)**: wada calcium cd3  
**Notes**: rambling warning. cloud will always be a motion-sick pessimist. zack will always be an analytical hellion. some things will never change.  
**Spoilers**: zack is a spoiler all in himself. :x besides that, none.  
...

"The thing is, you're too pessimistic."

Zack rummaged in a supply kit, looking over various bottles and packets. Cloud watched, frowning. "Tell me something I don't know. Hurry, won't you?"

He merely chortled in reply. "Or you'll what? Barf on me?" he then reconsidered his words. "Okay, fine. This should do it."

Cloud accepted the offered pills and popped them in his mouth, swallowing the medicine dry. "Tranquillizers?"

A snort. "Something like that." the first-class shoved away the tool pack and helped himself to the seat beside his friend--all of the other SOLDIERs had moved as far away as possible from the rather green-looking grunt. Cloud scowled and Zack sighed. "Really, you're also the most moody bastard I've ever had the pleasure to meet. And that's saying something, compared to Sephiroth..."

"Please shut up," Cloud mumbled miserably.

"And you're ungrateful. Honestly, did you even think about saying thank you?"

Well. No, he didn't. But the pills did seem to help keep his nausea under control, and the relief must have shown on his face because Zack began grinning. "Thanks."

"No problem. You knew I was just joking, right?" Zack propped his chin against the heel of his hand, glancing idly out the window, where flashes of Nibelheim forest whipped by their hurtling truck. "Soo...about your friend Tifa..."

"I don't want to talk about it," Cloud grumbled. Unsurprisingly, though, Zack plowed on ahead as if the blond had never even spoken.

"Don't know where you got the idea that she's going to hate you. You two were friends, weren't you?" Zack shot the grunt a suspicious look. "Wait--don't tell me, was she your girlfriend?"

"No," Cloud denied emphatically.

Zack's mischevous smirk only widened. "Ever kissed her?"

"Go away. Now."

"Heey, can you blame me for asking?" a shrug. "Point is: Tifa's not going to suddenly hate you just because you're not a SOLDIER. A lot of people don't make it in, okay?"

Cloud tried to ignore Zack's mindless banter. He detested these little psychoanalyzation sessions--it made him feel like he was being treated by a psychiatrist, and he was not mentally unsound, thanks very much--but he could not deny the fact that Zack was more perceptive than most others to the shifting of human emotions.

Sometimes it even helped. And, besides, all of it was true. He was an eternal pessimist. He didn't know why he felt the need to hide away so from Tifa Lockhart. And he did have motion sickness, though it seemed to be subsiding somewhat, thanks to Zack's pills.

"It's not even anything special. It doesn't mean you're not strong. There's absolutely no difference between a SOLDIER and a grunt, except the Mako in our blood and our big glowy eyes." Zack tapped his cheek for emphasis. If he was aware of the fact that Cloud was barely taking in a word he said, he didn't show it, and continued to ramble. "You've got this far, you're working for ShinRa, you handle big weapons far more regularly than any other citizen in Midgar--you know, yours is still a very impressive rank. Don't think that just because--"

"Zack," Cloud finally sighed. "Just--please be quiet. I get the point."

"So, to you, the ratio between the worst-possible scenario and a more favorable one would be all to none, huh?" Zack smirked, almost enjoying the expression of exasperation on Cloud's face. "Tifa hasn't seen you in years--I think that it'll be far more likely for her to be concerned with the question of whether or not you're even alive than whether or not you're a SOLDIER."

"I'm not going to be converted to Zack-optimism, alright? Just give it up, won't you?" if it was possible for a person to be talked to death, Zack would've been locked up for mass murder on the spot. As it was, though, the man merely smiled, albeit a bit sadly.

"So the glass is going to stay half empty, is it?"

"If the water's not already poisoned," Cloud remarked wryly, and almost caught himself grinning when Zack laughed.

"Fine, then," the older SOLDIER returned, surrendering at long last. "Stay that way. See if I care. It'll make life all the more sweeter when good things come your way--reverse psychology, that's what it's called. Just keep on trying to fool yourself, Cloud."

Cloud peered out the glass, where the sky was already darkening, preparing for evening. At this rate, he'll be at the outskirts of Nibelheim in only a few hours. "Are people really that gullible?"

"Yeah. You're one of the most." Zack confided seriously. Cloud scowled.

"How so?"

Zack screwed his brows in mock concentration. "Well, let me see. For one thing? Those tranquillizers I gave you."

He didn't like where this was going. "And what about them?"

A triumphant smile. "They weren't. But, see, you tricked yourself into thinking that they were, and in reality it really did help, didn't it?"

Cloud felt sick. "Then...what were they?"

"Calcium supplements."

With a snarl, Cloud swung at his friend, but the truck nicked a rockier bump than usual and the blond was knocked to Zack's lap, where he promptly threw up on the SOLDIER's boots.


	2. combo

Birds of a Feather  
_fanfic by volly  
final fantasy vii (c) square enix_

...  
**Title**: combo  
**Theme(s)**: radio-cassette player  
**Notes**: ...the title does not make any sense. written in 14 min 55 secs for word #129 at 15minuteficlets, which explains for the general crappiness of this drabble. the idea sounded prettier in my head.  
**Spoilers**: zack is a spoiler all in himself. :x besides that, there is a very tiny spoiler for last order, so be warned.  
...

Cloud hates music.

Zack loved it. He loved music as much as he loved sharp pointy objects, as much as he loved living life to the fullest, as much as he loved singing in the shower and getting drunk on the weekends and kissing Cloud. Which was to say, basically, that Zack loved music a lot.

Cloud always thought that it was depressing, that there was music at Zack's death. Somehow it seemed too morbid and ironic and mocking, having something you loved play just before the end of your life.

The truck was a cheap one, an old one. It was so old it came equipped with only an ancient radio-cassette player for entertainment. A mockery. Zack insisted that the geezer turn on the radio anyways. There was a few annoyed mumbles, but the driver eventually did as Zack asked. A slow, soft melody purred out from the speakers, a gentle background to the steady rumbling of the vehicle. Cloud relaxed into the music, listening to the simple but endearing tune and to Zack's attempt of a one-sided conversation, while wishing that he could reply.

The music flowed on, the sun blazed down, and the wind ruffled the tips of Cloud's bangs. But Midgar was only a few hours away and soon he would get better and he would become a mercenary with Zack and everything seemed alright for just a few minutes of his life. Everything seemed alright but such a mood was shattered all too soon.

There was music. Zack hummed the tune under his breath. There was a gunshot and Zack had flung himself over Cloud, a human shield to an attack Cloud never saw coming.

And then there was silence. Cloud looked into Zack's glowing silver eyes, but suddenly they weren't glowing anymore. Silence.

Zack loved music.

Cloud hates it. 


	3. plot device

Birds of a Feather  
_fanfic by volly  
final fantasy vii (c) square enix_

...  
**Title**: plot device  
**Theme(s)**: candy  
**Notes**: a little more lighthearted drabble to blot out the funny angst of the last one. enjoy.  
**Spoilers**: zack is a spoiler all in himself. :x besides that, none.  
...

Snap.

Cloud's cheek twitched, but he kept his eyes on the book in front of him. Damnit. And Zack wondered why he enjoyed studying alone so...

Snap.

He gritted his teeth but stubbornly put pen to paper yet again. He was going to finish this essay or die trying, and no distraction would deter him.

Well. Almost no distraction. Zack had a way to get under Cloud's skin just too easily. It took all of Cloud's resolve not to grab his pen and just jam it down Zack's throat. Assuming it wasn't already clogged up with bubble gum.

Snap.

"Zack," he finally growled, scribbling over the fourteenth spelling error on his essay. "I'm trying to work."

"Work away, then," Zack returned vaguely, chewing his gum.

The man was honestly like an overgrown puppy at times. If you didn't take pains to entertain him, he would annoy you until you relented and took him out for a walk. Cloud glared at a single line in the textbook, not reading the words. "You're distracting me."

Snap. Zack sucked in his gum and quirked a brow. "Oh really?"

Okay. Peaceful negotiation was out of the question. Time for more drastic measures. Before Zack could snap another bubble, Cloud had shoved him out of his chair and pinned him to the floor, straddling his stomach and wrapping his hands around Zack's throat. "Don't play dumb. You're stupid enough as it is."

And before Zack could open his mouth to reply, Cloud pressed his lips to the other's, smirking as Zack's throat contracted in pure surprise under his hands. Cloud slipped his tongue into Zack's mouth and pressed roughly against Zack's own tongue. The SOLDIER tasted inutterably sweet. But, then again, that might've been just the bubble gum.

But he pulled away before Zack could deepen or take the initiative in the kiss. He'd accomplished his goal, after all. Zack blinked twice and licked his lips. "Tease."

Cloud shrugged and removed his fingers from around Zack's neck. The first-class winced as a new revelation hit him. "You made me swallow my gum."

"Hah." Cloud grinned triumphantly and, to Zack's immense disappointment, clambered off of his friend and back onto his chair. Peace and quiet. Finally. Now he could finish off that stubborn essay. Maybe when he was done he and Zack could--

Snap.

Cloud very suddenly wanted to headdesk himself to oblivion. Zack had broken out another piece of gum. 


End file.
